What are the least desirable UY?

[lmhall2000]

I honestly feel like I'm learning a foreign language...still not quite sure how all this UY works out...We are fortunate that we can travel anytime of the year...we prefer Disney in early May/Mid-September or the first two weeks of December....with those times, which UY should we target?
Are these high demand DVC times?
How hard is it to book a room anywhere within the 60 day mark, or is that even possible? Sometimes we get incredible airfares (under 60 days) that we'd like to use and hop over for a few days...anywhere from 2-4 of us...Thanks so much for your help!

 

[dsnydaddy]

Take the date that you usually vacation and mark off the previous three months. Those are the least desirable UY's for you.

 

[CarolMN]

Have you had a chance to read the Understanding Use Year thread?

Given your favorite travel times (early May, Mid-September &/or early December), I'd go with either April or September.

Good luck!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Life happens, and if we are lucky, we can retire and travel anytime! March UY was perfect when I taught, now I travel anytime, and actuhad to take a last minute February trip to WDW to use some points that would have been stranded.

 

[Dean]

I honestly feel like I'm learning a foreign language...still not quite sure how all this UY works out...We are fortunate that we can travel anytime of the year...we prefer Disney in early May/Mid-September or the first two weeks of December....with those times, which UY should we target?
Are these high demand DVC times?
How hard is it to book a room anywhere within the 60 day mark, or is that even possible? Sometimes we get incredible airfares (under 60 days) that we'd like to use and hop over for a few days...anywhere from 2-4 of us...Thanks so much for your help!

If you travel evenly at those times, Sept will likely be best but May will present some additional risk. April and Dec will be roughly the same with slightly more risk. Overall these are the 3 I'd look at if your travels & risk will be spread evenly in those 3 months. Evenly would ultimately mean number of points per trips AND frequency. It's possible the risk of short notice changes or cancelations would not be equal for those times. The other question is whether getting more than one UY is best. Generally it's not but there are some situations where it is. IF you're looking at more than one home resort and sufficient number of points, that could be best here for SOME.

 

[lmhall2000]

Thanks! You are all making this easier September/May are more than likely the months we will go most often, probably a December trip every six years to enjoy the decorations. Re-reading the thread on UY (my brain just shut down half-way through the first read), I could see us having to cancel a few times because Murphy's Law hits us with frequency. If I'm reading this right, we must use points that are in hold before our UY hits, if I bought a September UY and had points in holding they would have to be used more than likely in June/July/August which are the worst months to get good airfare (always flying in). But if we get an October UY, we have the month of September to run down.
Now, with that considered, are October UY in more demand than others? Or is that in the middle or lower...has anyone ever kept track of which UYs are sold most? Least?

 

[Dean]

Thanks! You are all making this easier September/May are more than likely the months we will go most often, probably a December trip every six years to enjoy the decorations. Re-reading the thread on UY (my brain just shut down half-way through the first read), I could see us having to cancel a few times because Murphy's Law hits us with frequency. If I'm reading this right, we must use points that are in hold before our UY hits, if I bought a September UY and had points in holding they would have to be used more than likely in June/July/August which are the worst months to get good airfare (always flying in). But if we get an October UY, we have the month of September to run down.
Now, with that considered, are October UY in more demand than others? Or is that in the middle or lower...has anyone ever kept track of which UYs are sold most? Least?

I think you need some more time with this issue, Oct would be a bad UY for this situation IMO. There are really 2 issues, first using any points the remainder of the UY such as banked or borrowed points and holding accounts points. Second is having banking options and IMO, this is the more important issue in this discussion. If you have Oct and you have to cancel a trip for Sept later in the course, you likely won't be able to bank or use them before the end of the UY.

If Dec is less likely then April will be your best option IMO to cover May & Sept. Assuming the risk and size of the trips is spread out evenly for the trips you will take. April would protect your most common trips (May & Sept) well and would be reasonable for Dec but not ideal.

I don't think there's enough demand/pricing difference to make any difference in buying. Also, buying an April UY should give you enough time to become educated, buy and bank any points you might need to.

 

[BillPA]

This link shows the break down of resorts by UY. The more units in 'your' UY could mean more availability to buy, if less inventory in your UY prices could be higher and more difficult to find. Note this is a few years old data.

http://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-pr...dated-use-year-distribution-charts-april-2014

 

[Deb & Bill]

I honestly feel like I'm learning a foreign language...still not quite sure how all this UY works out...We are fortunate that we can travel anytime of the year...we prefer Disney in early May/Mid-September or the first two weeks of December....with those times, which UY should we target?
Are these high demand DVC times?
How hard is it to book a room anywhere within the 60 day mark, or is that even possible? Sometimes we get incredible airfares (under 60 days) that we'd like to use and hop over for a few days...anywhere from 2-4 of us...Thanks so much for your help!

I'd say your under 60 days out mark would not be possible for early December or maybe even mid-September. They might work for early May. But at 60 days out, anything left in DVC inventory can get turned over to Disney Reservation Center to sell for cash. Most of the time at 60 days out, you are going to maybe get one bedroom at OKW, SSR or AKV for a few days.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks! You are all making this easier September/May are more than likely the months we will go most often, probably a December trip every six years to enjoy the decorations. Re-reading the thread on UY (my brain just shut down half-way through the first read), I could see us having to cancel a few times because Murphy's Law hits us with frequency. If I'm reading this right, we must use points that are in hold before our UY hits, if I bought a September UY and had points in holding they would have to be used more than likely in June/July/August which are the worst months to get good airfare (always flying in). But if we get an October UY, we have the month of September to run down.
Now, with that considered, are October UY in more demand than others? Or is that in the middle or lower...has anyone ever kept track of which UYs are sold most? Least?

I believe you will need to do another read of the understanding UY. The Oct UY would be the absolute worst in that situation. Your jumping forward to when you'd like to use points from a cancellation but forgetting about the Last minute Sept cancellation that started it all. If you had an Oct UY and were trying to use points from a last minute Sept cancellation those points would have to be used by the end of THAT Sept or they would expire so it might even be less that 30 days to use them.

Now, if you don't want to re-read then as you've outlined your travel to be mostly May or Sept with a rare December then as mentioned the April or Sept UYs are the ones that will provide the best free "insurance" (i.e., most time to use the points from the cancellation or to still be in the banking window if the points qualify to be banked). April would be slightly better for the May/Sept normal use age and be ok for the rarer Dec trip but Sept would work ok too. However the Sept becomes just ok for the May trip while it would best cover Sept and Dec trips which is why I say the April would be best for your normal spring/ late summer trips. Oct is a definite no.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks! You are all making this easier September/May are more than likely the months we will go most often, probably a December trip every six years to enjoy the decorations. Re-reading the thread on UY (my brain just shut down half-way through the first read), I could see us having to cancel a few times because Murphy's Law hits us with frequency. If I'm reading this right, we must use points that are in hold before our UY hits, if I bought a September UY and had points in holding they would have to be used more than likely in June/July/August which are the worst months to get good airfare (always flying in). But if we get an October UY, we have the month of September to run down.
Now, with that considered, are October UY in more demand than others? Or is that in the middle or lower...has anyone ever kept track of which UYs are sold most? Least?

I still think you are looking as UY meaning when you can book your stays. It doesn't matter during the year when you use your points as long as they are available to book your stay. UY is only when your points become current year points, or past year points of future year points. So if you had points in holding, it would just mean you had until the end of the UY to use them. Points in holding with a Sept UY, means you must book and stay before the end of August. With an Oct UY, you must book and stay before the end of Sept. But you also need to consider that booking a stay of any length from Sept through the marathon in Jan is going to be difficult 60 days out.

For example, we have a Sept UY for the majority of our points (also a Dec UY for a smaller 50 point contract). I have a longer stay planned for Sept with the Sept points. I'm thinking of cancelling the entire stay and I need to do that by Aug 23 so they don't go into holding. The stay was made with Sept 2017 points. If I cancel after Aug 23, they go into holding and I must use them before Aug 31, 2018. But I might go ahead and cancel the stay now and either use the points next Spring or summer and just bank them into Sept 2018 (they would be good for stays from Sept 1, 2108 through Aug 31, 2019.

 

[disneynutz]

The least desirable UY's are the ones with months that you would never vacation.

The best UY's are the 8 months that you would vacation most often.

Bill

 

[Orsino]

Take the date that you usually vacation and mark off the previous three months. Those are the least desirable UY's for you.

That can't be right, is it? I would say those three months prior to the vacation month are the most desirable with the three months following a typical trip being the least.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

That can't be right, is it? I would say those three months prior to the vacation month are the most desirable with the three months following a typical trip being the least.

What that is looking at is choosing a UY if you travel thru out the year and there's no clear cut month that you will only go.

What I would say is if you'll travel thru out the year if there are 3 or 4 months that you would not plan to go or that would be the least likely to travel then pick a UY that starts just after those months. For us that's the summer at WDW- June, July, Aug, Sept so Oct would be a good UY and still give some options for a late cancellation for travel from Oct to May. Sept also would not be terrible but all somewhat weighted on how much May travel we would do.

But if there's a specific time of the year you would plan to travel, such as May and only that time then your good going back in UYs - April, March, Feb would all be the UYs to look most closely at. That is assuming May or Spring is really the main or only time you'd plan to go.

Two different scenarios and considerations for selecting a UY that gives you some insurance against last minute cancellations.

 

[Deb & Bill]

That can't be right, is it? I would say those three months prior to the vacation month are the most desirable with the three months following a typical trip being the least.

If you need to cancel and rebook your stay, you want to have as much time as possible if you have to cancel 30 days out. When you cancel 30 days out, your points go into holding and can only be used to book a stay 60 days out. If you are already at the end of your UY, you might not be able to book anything before the end of the UY and by that time you are too late to bank those points. Plus if you are using banked points, you would lose the use of the points if you don't use them before the end of the UY they were banked into. If your vacation is in Sept thru Nov and you have a Sept UY, you have almost nine months to book another stay. If you have a Dec UY, you have to book that stay before Dec 1 of that coming Dec.

 

[Orsino]

If you need to cancel and rebook your stay, you want to have as much time as possible if you have to cancel 30 days out. When you cancel 30 days out, your points go into holding and can only be used to book a stay 60 days out. If you are already at the end of your UY, you might not be able to book anything before the end of the UY and by that time you are too late to bank those points. Plus if you are using banked points, you would lose the use of the points if you don't use them before the end of the UY they were banked into. If your vacation is in Sept thru Nov and you have a Sept UY, you have almost nine months to book another stay. If you have a Dec UY, you have to book that stay before Dec 1 of that coming Dec.

Okay. That makes sense to me. But that is also the same thing I was saying isn't it?
The post I quoted was saying the opposite, right? Or am I going nuts?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Okay. That makes sense to me. But that is also the same thing I was saying isn't it?
The post I quoted was saying the opposite, right? Or am I going nuts?

As I mentioned just above they were responding to a scenario where the OP plans on traveling at different times of the year, not a set single month. Two different things to consider UY.

 

[supersnoop]

Take the date that you usually vacation and mark off the previous three months. Those are the least desirable UY's for you.

That can't be right, is it? I would say those three months prior to the vacation month are the most desirable with the three months following a typical trip being the least.

Nope, you're right. @dsnydaddy has it backwards. I'm not sure if he's mixed up on the 11-month booking window, which is not connected to use year, or if he's misinterpreted my common advice. I suggest you find the three consecutive months that you're least likely to travel and choose a use year immediately following.